Mississippians Eligible for Payment from Settlement with PHH Mortgage Corporation

January 3, 2018

Nearly 300 Mississippians will receive a note in the mail in the coming months letting them know they are eligible for payments starting at $285 after a $45 million settlement was reached with New Jersey-based mortgage lender and servicer PHH Mortgage Corporation for the company’s improper servicing of mortgage loans.

PHH, the nation’s ninth largest non-bank residential mortgage servicer, improperly serviced mortgage loans from January 1, 2009 through December 31, 2012. Examples of these improper services included but were not limited to: failing to maintain accurate account statements, failing to timely and accurately apply payments made by borrowers, failing to properly process borrowers’ applications for loan modifications, and failing to maintain adequate documentation to determine whether PHH had standing to foreclose.

Borrowers who were subjected to PHH foreclosures during the eligible period will qualify for a minimum $840 payment, and borrowers who faced foreclosures that PHH initiated during the eligible period, but did not lose their home, will receive a minimum $285 payment. Approximately 270 Mississippians are eligible for a payment. A settlement administrator will contact eligible payment recipients via U.S. mail at a later date.

“Our settlement holds PHH accountable for harms homeowners suffered from improper loan servicing and shows our continued dedication to this area,” said General Hood. “The agreement requires new servicing standards to help ensure that PHH doesn’t repeat conduct that led to improper mortgage servicing and provides financial relief to aggrieved homeowners.”

The settlement agreement requires PHH to adhere to comprehensive mortgage servicing standards, conduct audits, and provide audit results to a committee of states. The settlement does not release PHH from liability for conduct that occurred beginning in 2013. The settlement was reached by Attorney General Jim Hood, 48 other state attorneys general, the District of Columbia, and more than 45 state mortgage regulators.